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>> and now "bbc world news." hello and welcome. >> here are the headlines this hour -- were brought offers full cooperation with the police as -- rupert murdoch offers the full cooperation with the police as pressure increases over the phone hacking scandal. >> the worst drought in 60 years has affected 12 million people. we have a special report from east africa. and the philippine foreign minister heads to beijing that over talks over the territorial dispute and the south china sea. >> broadcasting on pbs in america and around that the world, this is " newsday."

hello, and welcome. and the u.k., lawyers for the relatives of british soldiers killed in iraq and afghanistan say the police have warned their clients their funds may have been hacked into by the news of the world, the tabloid newspaper at the center of a hacking scandal. news corp. said it would be absolutely appalled and horrified if the allegations prove true. its owner, rupert murdoch, has ordered full cooperation with the police investigation. >> yes, there was even worse to come. the relatives of soldiers killed in iraq and afghanistan have been warned their funds may have been hacked. they joined the families of those whose loved ones were blown apart on 7/7. >> my mind went back to 2005 and

the emotional turmoil that we were in. and that somebody was listening to that, it is a violation. >> also on the list of possible targets, the parents of wholey and jessica. and of course, the parents of those who were given false hope that she was still alive when her voice messages were deleted after her phone was allegedly attacked. last night, the prime minister returned from afghanistan to learn of the brewing storm. >> yes, we it -- we do need to have an inquiry into what happened. we're no longer talking about politicians and celebrities. we're talking about murder victims, potentially terrorist victims, having their funds hacked into. it is absolutely disgusting. >> what happened in the newsroom of news of the world is being investigated by 50 police

officers. now there are inquiries as to why the police took so long to take it seriously and what is wrong with the british media. this all began with the imprisonment for years ago of the news of the world's will editor, imprisoned also this man. >> i made a statement yesterday, and due to constraints, there will be no more coming out of my mouth. >> it is his reams of notes that has provoked fuelled this side, that and the mounting anger of m p's that the police did not want to investigate what he had done. tonight, rupert murdoch issued a statement describing what had been done as deplorable and unacceptable, stating, "our company must fully and promptly cooperate with the police and that will happen under rebecca brookside leadership." that is clear backing for the chief executive, even though she

was editor of news of the world at the time of the alleged hacking of the families. today, the company executives said they knew of that. she apparently was away at the time. enemies have long claimed whoever is in power, he is the real puppet master. tonight, he, they, no one knows how this extraordinary drama will end. dozens of people are feared dead it and the north of the after a bus collided with a train at an unmarked railway crossing. it happened to the early hours of the morning. it was the 200th 50 kilometers southeast of the capital deli. officials say 35 bodies have been discovered so far. just explain, the current situation right now. >> the prime minister of india

has expressed his deep condolences and has announced this to the victims' families. the minister is going to investigate why this happened. apparently, what happened, told by officers, the bus with 100 passengers from a wedding party were returning, full of joy, dreams, and when they were trying to cross the railway line, the driver perhaps could not see the train was coming and the bus was hit by the train engine. it was dragged up to 500 meters. many people were on the roof of the bus. they were thrown a great distance. those inside of the bus were trapped. because it was in the night

time, and it was dark and it was a wedding party, they tried to clear the dead bodies. the track has been cleared, the train has been moved on, and the dead bodies have been taken to a local district hospital because of the post mortem. about 40 people were admitted to three hospitals and officials are trying to track down how many dead at and injured and trying to organize relief. >> ok, thank you for the latest on that tragic accident. millions of people in east africa are struggling to cope with the worst drought for years. >> aid agencies have issued an urgent appeal for help for those who have been affected by the drought. the crisis has been particularly

devastating in parts of somalia, you can't, kenya, and ethiopia. more than three have a thousand people have walked for days to get the refugee camps -- more than 300,000 people have walked for days to get to the refugee camps. >> among the refugees, hundreds of lost children and orphans, some separated from their families on the long walk from somalia. others no longer have any parents, their father dying in somalia possible war, then last month their mother was killed as well. >> it is better here. back in somalia, there was a war. we have no relatives there, so we fled here. >> in the hospital, these children have parents, but precious little else. drought and war mean their bodies have been horribly

weakened by malnutrition. by the time they reached the clinic, it can be too late. the doctors are working frantically to save as many lives as they can, but too often they have to register the names of their patients in this, the clinic's death book. inside, the names of the children who died are registered by date. on sundays, two or even at three children here have lost their fight for life. the cause of death is a variety of illnesses and diseases. the recalls is always the same, chronic malnutrition. -- the root cause is always the same, chronic malnutrition. this one-year-old it is causing doctors serious concern. >> we need food, water, medicine, shelter, and everything else a human being needs.

we're never going back to somalia. >> hospital staff said they are under resource and overstretched and indeed the world to help. this part is the makeshift ambulance to bring in fresh cash based -- fresh casualties to the clinic. the elderly and the on all vulnerable to malnutrition. this drought is killing at young and old alike. aid workers in this camp say the people who are here are comparatively well-off. they have basic supplies of food and water and medicine. beyond this camp, there are 9 million, 10 million people affected by the drought and many of them have not had any help at all. an announcement by house and bob will allow aid agencies to all-out -- by al-shbabab says they will allow us humanitarian

affairs to be brought in. but the say they will need security guarantees before its staff can help people affected by the worst drought in 60 years. aid agencies were forced out in 2009, accused of being anti muslim. south korea is building a new reception center for north koreans to escape over the border. they include economic migrants and political refugees. there are more than 21,000 and south korea and the numbers are growing every month. efforts to stop defector's appeared to be having little effect. >> despite crackdowns by north korea and by its neighbor, china, along the joint border, which is most affected, the number of defectors is growing. the country expects a little over 3000 will arrive this year. it says people are passing

through the country's more quickly, partly because china has cracked down, and it has seen more family units defecting and more people coming to join families that are already here in south korea. at the existing center, it is not quite full, but it has already been extended once and it will become full very shortly. that is why there are building this new center. human rights groups and belarus say authorities have arrested more than two other people for taking part in street protests against the president. -- arrested more than 200 people for taking part in street protests against president. witnesses in the capital saw participants are rounded up and taken away in unmarked cars. >> no slogans, no banners, no megaphones. for the activists outside of the

embassy in moscow, clapping as a sign of defiance. what they gathered in moscow, dozens of protesters were being arrested on the streets of minsk for holding a similar event. >> we know that people who are not happy with it the president's regime hold or tried to hold such actions each week in belarus. we also know how violently they are dispersed. today, thank god, we manage to hold such actions without being dispersed in moscow. >> but last month, this was the police reaction in minsk. these images are from a protest in june against the president's economic policies, which have seen a 36% devaluation and the local currency and a rise in inflation. a bbc cameraman was among those

attacked by plainclothed security personnel. that the president, the man that the u.s. has described as the last dictator in europe, has been in power and belarus since 1994. there is not been a single election in italy verify the, leading to sanctions by western governments. now belarus is seeking billions of dollars in loans from the imf. people are becoming emboldened against the autocratic regime and a prepared to suffer the consequences of simple protests such as this. >> you were watching the bbc, live from singapore and london. with public doubts growing about japan's nuclear industry, could a thermal energy solve the country's energy problems? >> as nasa prepares for their last ever shuttle mission, we meet one of the space agency's longest serving veterans. allegations that the news of

the world newspaper hack into the phone messages of murder victims or their relatives has caused widespread public anger. several big companies have decided not to place advertisements in the paper. our business editor has studied the impact on rupert murdoch's business. >> news corp., for decades a towering elephant of the global media, created and led by rupert murdoch, is facing a grave threat. ford, but to be she, and other big companies with big brands have said they will not advertise in the news of the world this weekend because they do not want to be associated with the shocking revelations about how the newspaper obtained stories. the owner of the news of the world, news corp., had their share price fall 4%, a reputation of crisis that could

become a financial problem. news corp. wants to buy the 61% of british sky broadcasting it does not already own, but my sources tell me they have taken the view that news corp. would have to pay 9.6 billion pounds for the british sky broadcasting shares. following this news today, the media regulator says it has a duty to be satisfied that the holder of the broadcasting license is fit and proper. there is a risk it could be brought or unscrambled. b sky b directors may say that news corp. has to pay more to compensate for the risk or the deal may never happen. there may be incentive for news corp. to delay the takeover, pending greater clarity on whether they will be suitable owners of sky in the light of what ever further shocking disclosures are made about how the news of the world of pain stories. -- about how the news of the

world cup team stories. >> this is the bbc. the maid had lines, the news of the world newspaper faces new allegations of phone hacking and rupert murdoch has ordered full cooperation with the police. at the 35 people from a wedding party were killed in northern india when their bus was hit by a train at a railroad crossing. the philippines' foreign minister will visit his counterpart in beijing thursday to discuss the ongoing fight over the south china sea. the philippines has accused china of repeatedly encroaching on what it considers to be philippine waters. china shows no signs of backing down. our correspondent mnlf has more on what the philippines will hope to get out of the talks. -- our correspondent in manila

has more on with the philippines will look to get out of the talks. >> they're trying to palm tensions down. this row has been going on for more than a month and shows no signs of stopping. the philippines keep saying to china, you are encroaching on our waters, and china keeps on doing it. there have been more than 10 encroachments, according to the philippines, in what it sees as its territorial waters, has not made any comments about it. this is not an issue which just faxed the philippines and china. six countries lay claim to territory in the south china sea. i was speaking with the philippine president who says this is an issue that affects the whole region. >> it is not just a philippine concern.

we think it should be the central point and meeting with china in terms of resolving this amicably. >> the philippines wants to resolve this with other competing countries. they are small. why are so many countries staking their claims on these islands? >> i think it is fair to say that not any of these countries want a tiny little piece of the rock, it is what is around the rocks that they want, what is under the sea. nobody knows because of little exploration has been done. some analysts say there could be about $20 billion of oil and gas reserves under the waters. people don't know anything about it, but who owns those rocks it may mean the same person owns the area around it, and that is what people are focusing on. that is why six countries all lay claim to different parts of

that area. japan has long talked about renewable energy. what was once a luxury is not an urgent necessity. two-thirds of the country's nuclear reactors are offline following the disaster at fukushima. scientists are urging the government to look at the hot springs on the their country. burke visited a power generating station. and every thing has a cartoon mascot in japan, even the most dangerous nuclear power station in the world. at this and visitors center, they explain how nuclear reactors work. but he has less to say about what is under the plant. fault lines, where experts say a major earthquake could strike in the day.

this person has lived by all his life. he was pleased when the talk about shutting down the power station, until its defenses are strengthened, but he dreads the day. >> after what happened at fukushima, i don't think people here feel sick about having a nuclear plant around. -- i don't think people feel safe about having a nuclear plant around. it should become a monument to human stupidity to build something like that. >> for japan, the disaster has triggered a major reassessment about its great cities. before, the plan was to keep building more and more reactors. but after explosions and meltdowns, the japanese have lost faith in nuclear energy. a hot springs all over japan could provide at least part of

the answer. they are created by the very thing that makes the country so vulnerable to earthquakes, the pacific ring of fire. just under the ground, there is boiling hot water from the sea. at this resort, they have set up an electricity generator. it is a tiny bit experiment, but scientists say the potential of geothermal energy is huge. >> we can supply 10% of electricity consumption in japan. >> and how much is geothermal supplying now? >> 0.3%. >> the best geothermal resources are in the country's most beautiful places, it's natural parks. that is one reason nuclear power has been the preferred option until now. but the disaster at fukushima maybe what makes japan began to exploit the clean energy under the ground.

there is lots more on the bbc news website, full analysis , and how is it is developing in comparison with the west. just go to the website and take a look for yourself. a u.s. appeals court has ruled that openly gay men and women must be allowed to serve an armed forces. a ban had already been ruled unconstitutional, but it remains in effect will the government appeals. the policy known as don't ask, don't tell can no longer be applied unless the government challenges the position in the supreme court. the australian agriculture ministers announced the month- long ban on exports of live cattle to indonesia is to be lifted. it was imposed after video footage emerged showing cattle being beaten, whipped, and

maimed before slaughter in some indonesia slaughterhouses. they protested against the ban, that it was costing jobs. and now, everybody will be watching the skies of florida for the final launch of the space shuttle? >> that is right, three decades and 135 missions will drop to a close. for many who work at the kennedy space center, it is a bittersweet moment. in this report, we hear from one veteran of the space program who reveled in his decades of duty. >> my name is paul, and just retired after 45 years working at the kennedy space center. >> and the shuttle has cleared the tower. >> all launches i have seen have always been exciting. it is a magnificent flying machine. even though you have worked on them and seen them for so many years, is still an amazing

machine. when i first went out there, i worked indian farmer to control systems. -- in the environmental control systems. it's applied to clean air for the apollo spacecraft. it was exciting. everybody who worked there was excited to be there, just pioneering everything we did. i was lucky enough to be chosen to work on the lunar rover. the first vehicle that came down here did not have any american flags. they sent a package of five flags. i carefully put four on offenders. asked the astronaut office if they would autograph the spare, so they did. i still have that flag and i am very proud of it. these are some of the pictures that i have that i have cherished that were signed by the cruise.

if you are a keep worker, you have these things and cherish them very much. the space shuttle program ending is sad. it has been 30 years. it has been part of so many people's lives and has been such a stellar program for this nation. i, like everybody out there, he to see it come to an end. it has given this nation, the united states, such an honor to have such a successful program. part of my career, the kennedy space center. i feel very lucky that i had such a magnificent career. i feel very lucky to be in that line of work. i could have retired at an earlier age, but i did not want to. it has been such a part of me so many years. it is like family. >> that is it for the "newsday" team. goodbye, and thank you for

watching. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies.

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